ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A bomb-laden drone was shot over Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone in the early morning hours of Wednesday, causing damage to nearby homes and vehicles. The attack comes as Iraqi authorities continue to press ahead with Operation Dawn anti-corruption campaign.
The Green Zone houses Iraq's core government institutions, including parliament and the prime minister's office, along with major foreign diplomatic missions and UN offices.
“Glass and fire came through the window while I was just sitting there. The glass fell all over the sofa, and the inside of my air conditioner was completely smashed,” Um Walid, a resident affected by the deflected missile in the densely populated Sadr City in northeast of Baghdad, told Rudaw’s Ziyad Ismail.
Her house was the only place damaged by the missile.
But debris from the drone damaged four houses and a number of vehicles in another district in the Iraqi capital.
Abdullah Alla, who was lightly injured by the attack, said, “I don’t know if it was a bullet fragment that hit my head, or if it hit me while I was trying to put out the fire. I can’t remember.”
Security forces gathered the drone debris. Investigations have started to locate its launch point and the perpetrators behind it.
The attack coincided with Operation Dawn, an expanded anti-corruption campaign launched by the Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in coordination with the Iraqi judiciary and Federal Integrity Commission.
The one-of-its-kind operation has so far netted tens of officials and senior politicians as well as resulted in the seizure and recovery of millions of dollars.
Of note, the Green Zone district has come under heavy drone and missile attack in March, when the US-Israeli war against Iran was at its peak. The strikes primarily targeted the US embassy and its military units.
